Eleven-year old Ronnie Currens, a sixth-grader at Peachtree
Charter Middle School in Atlanta, Georgia, recently won First
Place in his school Social Studies Fair. The subject he chose
was, "How Did Japan Treat American POWs in World War
II?" This subject was of special interest to
Ronnie because his grandfather  and namesake  1st
Lt. Ronald B. Currens was captured on Corregidor and spent the
duration of the war in Japanese captivity.

We are extremely proud to inform
you that Ronnie competed in the Regional Social Studies Fair
yesterday and won again. He will next be entered in the State
SSF on March 17, to be held at Clayton State University in Morrow,
Georgia

Ronnie used many sources for his research  several books,
a Discovery Channel documentary, this Web site (Center for Research),
and his grandfathers own POW diary. First writing an 11-page
research paper on the subject, Ronnie then built a scale model
of Zentsuji Prison Camp and created a backboard showing various
pertinent photos and maps. On it, he included a portion of his
grandfathers diary, showing on a map each location where
Lt. Currens was interned  including Cabanatuan, Zentsuji,
Tanagawa, and Rokuroshi. Also included as part of his display
was a plastic bag filled with 290 grams of rice  the daily
ration allowed each POW  and a scanned copy of the original
diary.

After winning his school Fair, Ronnie went on to represent Peachtree
Charter Middle School at the county Social Studies Fair a few
weeks later. As part of this competition, he not only set up
his backboard and visual aids but he was also interviewed by
the judges. Once again he won First Place  plus the
ribbon for Most Creative  and will go on to represent DeKalb
County in the Regional Fair in February, 2007.

Ronnies family and schoolmates are very proud of the hard
work he did in putting together this most meaningful project.
And somewhere in Heaven, the grandfather he never met is also
proud of him. The day he won the First Place award at his school
was Veterans Day .Clik
for larger image of display

Note the samll amount of daily rice rations

How Did Japan Treat
American P.O.W.s in World War II?

The war was long and ugly. For some it was fatal and inhumane.
People were beaten so much they could feel their soul coming
out of their eyes, and one of those people was my grandfather.
His name was Lieutenant Ronald Bryce Currens. He suffered so
much that he died before he was supposed to.

This paper will examine how the American Prisoners of War were
treated by the Japanese, discuss some of the reasons why the
Japanese were so cruel at that time, and detail my grandfathers
experience.

The soldiers in the Philippines were already in bad enough condition
which was startling because they were captured by the Japanese
and were treated worse. They were starving before they were captured
because they could not be re-supplied, they were blockaded. General
McArthur was forced to relocate to Australia which left General
King to take his place. Then he surrendered because if he didnt
all his troops would die.

By late December [1941], President Roosevelt and War Secretary
Stimson had confided to Winston Churchill that they had regrettably
written off the Philippines. In a particularly chilling phrase
that was later to become famous, Stimson remarked, "There
are times when men have to die."1

Corregidor was a fortress island that guarded Manila Bay. General
Wainwright and the soldiers on Corregidor held out for a month
after Bataan fell before they too were forced to surrender or
die. During that month the people in the tunnels of Corregidor
were subjected to the most horrendous artillery barrage in the
history of modern warfare.

The Bataan Death March made POWs walk 62 miles from Mariveles
to San Fernando where they were packed 100 to a boxcar and shipped
to Camp ODonnell. During the Death March anyone who fell
or delayed the march was slaughtered with bayonets. There were
no food, water, shelter or sanitation facilities for the POWs.
In the boxcars they were crowded so much they couldnt move
at all or sit down and many died of suffocation and heat. They
were packed so tightly the dead remained standing.

Some POWs were physically tortured by the Japanese. Ralph Levinberg,
Death March survivor described, "I watched a guy,
he had his arm broken in so many places for stealing a sliver
of soap. They put his arm over a sawhorse and broke it repeatedly
and wouldnt let the doctors set it."2

Joseph Dupont, POW in the Philippines, said, "Three
escaped but they caught them. They made the three men dig their
graves and kneel in front of them. The Japs would cut off their
heads they would fall into the hole."2

In Japan they would store the Red Cross boxes packed with food
in a warehouse just outside the fence where the POWs could see
them, but they wouldnt give them the packages.2

Prisoners in Japanese POW camps never got used to the daily living
conditions. Prisoners suffered from malaria, dysentery, pellagra,
beriberi, or various other diseases that wouldnt ordinarily
have killed them.1 The Japanese refused to provide medicine in
many cases until too late, if at all. Only the lucky received
the medicine they needed. Each prisoner received a ration of
290 grams of uncooked rice per day, plus about ½ cup of
watery daikon soup with each meal. When daikon was not in season,
they were forced to use weeds such as sweet potato tops and weeds
they could gather.4 All prisoners were forced to work, some as
slave labor and some at subsistence farming. Some volunteered
for burial detail in order to earn extra food. They were so hungry
all the time that all they thought about was food. My grandfather
filled a whole diary with recipes.

Some prisoners gambled to pass the time and win cigarettes to
trade for food and medicine. My grandfather played bridge and
even wrote a book about a bridge bidding system while he was
a POW. He often said that it was bridge that kept him alive.3

When the Japanese felt they were about to lose the Philippines,
they relocated most POWs to Japan on the infamous Hell Ships.
The ships were the final indignity and the least well known.
More people died in the ships than in the Death March.2 The Japanese
crammed the POWs into the holds of the ships even tighter than
they had been in the boxcars on the Death March. People stuck
their tongue on the wall of the ship to gather condensation for
water. People got seasick in the ships. Some people died of heat
and some people died of cold and some people died of suffocation.
It was so unsanitary that people defecated where they stood and
feces, urine, and vomit would slosh up to their ankles. They
were fed twice a day with a single bucket of food for everybody.
It was dark and crazy  some people went so crazy with thirst
that they drank their own urine. My grandfather was on a Hell
Ship for 19 days.5 The Japanese failed to mark the ships as carrying
POWs so they were often attacked by American planes and ships.

After the war it would be calculated that the death rate of POWs
held in German and Italian camps was approximately 4%. In Japanese
run camps, the death rate was 27%!1 Even the people who survived
suffered from many diseases and were already dying.

The Japanese were so cruel and inhumane to the Americans because
they felt that they were superior to other races, especially
Westerners. They also had a cult of bushido, the warrior cult,
so dying for the emperor was glorious. They felt it was a dishonor
to surrender and prisoners would live a life of guilt and shame.6

Jintaro Ishida, Japanese WW II veteran said, "It was
a dishonor to become a POW, so naturally enemy POWs received
horrible treatment." Kiyokazu Tsuchida, another
Japanese WW II veteran agreed, "There is no greater
shame than to become a prisoner. This is a fact. The word prisoner
does not exist for the Japanese soldier."2

My grandfathers diary starts when
he was in Manila at the outbreak of the war.
Here are some excerpts:

12-5-41  12-25-41 Manila.
War begins. Well the Japs finally jumped us. Heard about Pearl
Harbor at breakfast. Only the night before a bunch of us were
talking about the possibilities and decided they had waited too
long and wouldnt try it now. How little we knew about it.
They started out by bombing Baguio, Davao, Eba, & Clarke
Field at noon. Caught most of our airforce on the ground at Eba
and Clarke. Unbelievable but true. No planes over Manila the
first day. Bombed Nichols Field at night and again the next day
at noon along with Cavite. Caught some more planes on the ground
at Nichols. Air Raid Sirens  How the Filipinos love to
bear down on them.
These were the first Nip planes I saw  Noon on the 9th,
72 of them. They came in directly over PoD headed for Nichols
and Cavite. The A.A. opened up (3" A.A., 37 mm, Cal. 50,
Cal. 30 and even 45s) of course no one came close. It was
quite a sensation the first time you see enemy planes 
you dont know whether to swallow your pride, dirty your
clothes and flatten out or be brave & foolish and be nonchalant
and stand up. I was on top of the wall by the officers quarters
at the PoD and figured that a pretty good place as a bomb would
have to light right alongside to get me. Otherwise they would
hit below and I would be high & dry. Funny what a guy thinks
of in times of stress. However they werent headed for us
that day. Its a hell of a feeling to realize the
enemy is on the same island as you and in force, air superiority,
and plenty of replenishments available with supply lines intact
and you have none and no place to run to.

5-6-42  5-24-42  Corregidor
My career as a POW begins. Remain in tunnel till morning of the
8th. No attempt to feed us  so we raid the QMC Lateral
whenever possible. worried about hiking. Have heard rumors
that prisoners on Bataan were shot for falling out of column.
Heard we were slated to Cabanatuan & started leaving
day after our arrival. I am with casual officers & we are
slated for last group. Marched from Billibid to Escaroga RR Sta.
1 km morning of the 28th. Loaded onto a box car  100 per
car a little difficult with baggage but Nips with a bayonet did
the trick.

5-30-42 to 6-1-42 Camp #2, Cabanatuan.
No one else in camp but our group. No water  had to be
carried in. Rained the 31st and we got our canteens full &
a bath. Boy was it a godsend.

6-1-42 to 11-5-42 Camp #1, Cabanatuan.
Arrived in the late afternoon & was dark by the time we were
assigned to a barracks  had supper after dark. These camps
were originally built by our forces for the Phil. Army. Grass
roofs, sevallee sides, wood frame, split bamboo bunk racks, 2
decks and a catwalk. About 115 to 120 of us per barracks 
very crowded. Shortly after we had been in camp the boys
from Bataan who had been at Camp ODonnell started being
moved into Group 2 and 3  those who were able  death
rate had been terrific.

11-6-42 to 11-25-42. Nagata Maru from Manila to Moji. [Hell Ship]
Boarded Nagata Maru afternoon of the 6th. My company of 100 under
Maj. Bidgood loaded in #1 hold, 535 of us. Heat was awful
We were loaded in the lower "tween decks" with Nips
in the upper. They took great delight in throwing crumbs &
cigarettes to us to watch the scramble. No doubt in our minds
as what would happen to us in case we were attacked & hit
 rats in a trap. However we were lucky on that score. Weather
 from tropic heat to winter cold.

11-26-42 to 1-15-43 Tanagawa.
5 thin cotton blankets & a set of dishes all set out waiting
for us. Had my first taste of barley mixed with the rice 
liked it better than straight rice. Allowed to rest a
few days  were shown where men were to work  removing
rock from a quarry for a dry dock. Allowed to write 1st card
home. Thought I was going to freeze  Geo. Moore & I
pool our blankets & sleep together . Thousands of lice
 no facilities to get rid of them.

1-15-43 to 1-16-43 Tanagawa to Zentsuji.
Left Tanagawa 120 of us after supper (about 5:00 PM)  hiked
to RR sta.  3 km. Waited in cold about 1 hr for train 
Col. Miller in charge. We do exercises slowly to keep up circulation
 thank God we were allowed to keep overcoats for the trip.Ronnie
Currens model of Zentsuji

1-16-43 to 6-23-45 Zentsuji.
Arrived about 10:30 AM. First questions to boys hanging out the
windows  hows chow  soup & rice w/ bread
for lunch  boy did they look good  all dressed in
captured British woolens  us in tattered summer khaki
am overwhelmed by the kindness & help the boys already in
camp show us. The first real human kindness shown us since our
capture  gave us cigs & chow  helped us in &
out of bath tub  scrubbed our backs  helped us dry
off & dress & walk back to the barracks  I almost
cried .

6-23-45 to 6-25-45 Zentsuji to Rokoroshi.
Left Zentsuji 3:00 PM the 23rd & hiked 1 km to RR sta. Everyone
had to carry all baggage (much disappointment among the brass)
Saw & smelt the results of the bombings in Kobe and
Osaka  told to keep blinds down so we couldnt see
but I was next to a broken one & did alright. Boy there isnt
much left to bomb except the RR  the boys sure did a good
job with incendiaries.

6-25-45 to 9-8-45 Rokoroshi.
Arrived 2:00 AM  after much banging, roll calls, etc. in
the dark we are assigned bunks  enlisted men have a meal
ready for us if we can get around to eating it.

Aug 22, 1945
Well, here it is  the Camp Commander arrived back in camp
this PM & called Col. Unruh to the office. The Col. came
back and gathered all the Lt. Cols. & equal Navy rank in
room 20 and ran everyone else away from the immediate vicinity.
Windy & I sat on the hillside below the bengo  Sweating.
The Camp Commander, Sgt. Major and Fujimoto came to the barracks
(all very strange & unusual). He informed the assembled group
in room 20 that the war was ended  we would have to bear
with him a little longer  till we could be turned over
to our own troops  Our chow would not be cut and might
be increased if enough could be procured  No other details
 the Camp Commander and his stooges then left  He
had just cleared the wash rock when the big cheer and yell came
out of the barracks  He kept right on going with his tail
between his legs and looking very unhappy. What a joyous shock
 Everyone running around shaking hands  congratulating
each other .

Sept 2
Formation called at 4:00 PM  Nip commander made a speech
& told us we were now free. Think he expected a return speech
but Col. Unruh dismissed him  he then held a flag raising
ceremony. Johnny Pray played the bugle and the star spangled
banner was slowly raised. I cried like a baby  so did many
others. This signaled the beginning of many things we have waited
for so long  at last we are under our own flag.5

The biggest challenge for the POWs was returning to everyday
life. Some died shortly after they got home. The people that
were prisoners in Japan will always hate the Japanese and all
their traits. The Japanese returned to their home with shame
and dishonor. Because of all the bombing some Japanese families
perished. It was hard to imagine that American POWs in Japan
suffered seven times as much as the European War POWs. War is
ugly because the clash of different cultures gives different
opinions which leads to misery. This is a lesson that needs to
be remembered, to respect different people.

American Prisoners of War in World War II under the Japanese
were treated inhumanely because of the Japanese military culture.
The American POWs were already starving when they surrendered
and were sent on the Death March with little or no food or water.
While in captivity they were starved, tortured, denied medicine,
and worked as slave labor. To the Japanese, to become a POW was
a dishonor so they received terrible treatment. War is ugly because
the clash of different cultures gives different opinions which
leads to misery. This is a lesson that needs to be remembered,
to respect different people.Bibliography